Bird windowkill prevention screen

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a Bird Window-kill Prevention Screen. It prevents fatal and non-fatal injuries resulting from bird/windowpane collisions. It consists of black fiberglass screening suspended between an upper and lower frame made of plastic pipes. The screen is hung in front of the exterior of a window such that it is several inches in front of the windowpane. The lower frame is weighted so that the screen is held in a semi-taut manner and provides resilience when a bird strikes it. The screen has the advantages of 1) Being 100% effective, 2) Not impairing visibility, and 3) Easy to put up or take down.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0001] 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to methods for preventing birds from fatal and non-fatal collisions with window panes. This is a problem especially where birds are attracted to birdfeeders. Birds see the reflection of sky or woods in the window pane and attempt to fly in that direction, thereby striking the window pane violently, resulting in serious, usually fatal, injury.

[0003] 2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART AND PROBLEMS

[0004] Bird/windowpane collision prevention methods have included the following:

[0005] a. Placing decals of hawk silhouettes on the windowpanes in order to distract the birds.

[0006] b. Placing vertical strings of objects—feathers, etc.—in front of the windows to distract the birds.

[0007] c. Applying soap or some other translucent material to the outside of the window surface to prevent reflections.

[0008] d. Hanging netting across the window area to stop birds from striking the windows.

[0009] Decals have had very limited success. They do reduce the number of bird/windowpane collisions, but do not completely prevent them. Vertical strings of feathers, etc. have had limited success also, but do not stop all collisions. Applying a translucent coating to the window does work, but it then prevents the viewer inside from seeing the birds he is protecting. Hanging netting across the window will work, assuming the netting is small enough web size so that small birds do not get entangled in it. All of the above solutions also impair cleaning the windows.

[0010] 3. Solution

[0011] The Bird Window-kill Prevention Screen, as submitted in this application, solves all of these problems as follows.

[0012] a. It creates a soft, flexible, barrier between the bird and the window pane so that all birds on this trajectory strike the screen and bounce off with no injury.

[0013] b. The screen is as transparent as any high-quality window screen so that visibility by persons inside the house is nor impaired.

[0014] c. The screen is fine enough mesh that birds cannot get entangled in it.

[0015] d. The screen can be easily removed for cleaning the window in front of which it hangs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The present invention is a Bird Window-kill Prevention Screen. It prevents fatal and non-fatal injuries resulting from bird/windowpane collisions. It succeeds in this task where other methodologies have failed. The screen has the advantages of 1) Being 100% effective, 2) Not impairing visibility, and 3) Easy to put up or take down.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the screen

[0018]FIG. 2 is a side view of the screen

[0019]FIG. 3 is a detailed drawing of the top and bottom end caps

[0020]FIG. 4 is a perspective drawing of the screen installed

SUMMARY AND SCOPE

[0021] To summarize, my present invention is a device for preventing bird/windowpane collisions. It does this by creating a soft flexible barrier between the bird and the windowpane while still maintaining visibility through the window and screen. It differs from other window screens in that it does not seal the window opening to stop insects, nor is it held as taut as regular window screening. It hangs semi-loosely several inches in front of the exterior of the window with a weighted bottom frame to keep it wrinkle-free and to give it some resilience when struck by a bird.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The Bird Window-kill Prevention Screen is a screen that is hung in front of a window in order to prevent birds from crashing into the windowpane. The screen protects birds from both fatal and non-fatal injuries.

[0023] The device consists of black fiberglass screening mounted between a top and bottom frame. The frame consists of PVC Schedule 40 plastic pipes. The top frame consists of two pipes. The inner pipe is ½″ PVC Pipe and the outer pipe is ¾″ PVC Pipe. To construct the top frame, a piece of ¾″ PVC pipe must first have a 90 degree arc cut out of it. Then the edges must be rounded. Then the screening is layed over the ½″ pipe and the ¾″ pipe is pressed onto it to hold the screen in place. The screen is trimmed using a utility knife. Custom-made caps are inserted into the ends of the ½″ pipe to keep insects and water out of the pipe.

[0024] The bottom frame consists of two pipes. The inner pipe is ¾″ PVC Pipe and the outer pipe is 1″ PVC Pipe. To construct the bottom frame, a piece of 1″ PVC pipe must first have a 90 degree arc cut out of it. Then the edges must be rounded. Then the screening is layed over the ¾″ pipe and the 1″ pipe is pressed onto it to hold the screen in place. One custom-made end cap is inserted into the ¾″ pipe and then the pipe is filled with sand (for weight) and then a custom-made cap is inserted into the other end.

[0025] For hanging, two ¼″ diameter holes are drilled 24″ apart through the top frame assembly and two 3″ eye bolts are inserted and secured with ¼″ stop nuts.

[0026] For installation, two 3″ ceiling hooks are screwed into the top window frame 24″ apart. The screen assembly is then hung onto those hooks.

[0027] The width of the screen is 3 feet. The length (top to bottom) will vary from 4 feet to 6 feet. 

I claim:
 1. A screen assembly for mounting on a window frame, said assembly to hang loosely in front of the window frame by means of eye bolts hung onto ceiling hooks screwed into the window frame. The screen assembly consists of fiberglass screening suspended between two sets of plastic pipe frames at the top and bottom of the screen. The bottom set of pipes is filled with sand to provide weight in order to keep the screen somewhat taut between the two frames. 